Refrigerator



May 31, 1938.

E. DOBROW$KY RFRIGERATOR Filed June 23, 1956 R. S O W W m5 zo mw w F A w Z W z. n a Y m B z Patentd Mysl, 1938 I PTENToF-Fic-E aEFmGEaA'ron p Emmanuel Dobrowsky, New York, N. Y;

1 Claim.

This invention relates to refrigerators, an object of the invention being to provide a -refrigerator and more speciflcally the modern 'type of mechanical refrigerator with means for maintaining a partial'vacuum in the food compartpment. This means includes a suction pump or other suitable device which operates to draw air out of the food compartment, and this not only creats a partia] vacuum in the food compartment but it, also draws off odors frornthe food compartmentso as to prevent the lcontamination of one article of food by odors from another or other articles of food. The principal object of the' invention, therefore, is to create or) maintain a partial vacuum in the food compartment which 'assists in the preservationi of the` foods in their proper condition; reduces the temperature within the food compartment, and carries of odors from the, food compartment.

A further objectis to provide means of this character which are automatic in.their operation so that when the door of the refrigerator is opened it will, of course, permit air to rush into the food compartment and raise the lpressure therein to atmospheric pressure;v but when the door i`s again closed a partial vacuum creating means lwill be automatically started and .automatically stopped when the pressure is loweredlu Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view partly in Vertical i section through the refrigerator and showing one means for operatively connecting the food compartment of the refrigerator with a suction pump, and this view, which is partly diagrammatic, shows the position of the parts when the i desired pressure has been lowered sufliciently in the refrigerator and the pump is not Operating;

Fig. 3 is a`` fragmentary view similar to the fragmentary sectional portion of Fig. 2, showing the position of the parts when the pump is'operating;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view in horizontal section through a portion of the' door and casing, this view being taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 5;

-Fig. 5 is a fragmentary'view in Vertical section Application June 23, 1986, serial No. 86385,,-

(ol. vsiemin throughithe door of the food compartment; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation on the line 6-6 p of Fig. 5. i v

` The reference Character A is employed to indicate generally a refrigerator which, as above stated, is of the modern mechanical type.` The refrigerator A has a food compartment I and w a door 2 to close the same. As it is necessary in 'my invention to have the food compartment airtight, the door and preferably the wall of the opening in the casing are provided with suitable packing material 3 to render'the closure airtight when the door is closed. 'I'he food compartment is provided with an air outlet chamber 4, preferabl having a screened entrance end 5 and constructed with a port 6 adapted to be closed by a check valve 1. 'This check Valve is preferably of rubber or' other suitable material so' as 'to insurean lairtight closure. The chamber 4 is connected to an outlet pipe 8, which is operatively connected to a. suction pump 9 and this suction pump 9 is driven by an electric motor Ill. It is of course to be understood that the motor and pump may be located wherever found most convenientl l is illustrated as pivoted between its ends on a pin i |3 mounted in a bracket M and operatively connected at its end to a diaphragm IE which is -secured over a screened opening IG in the wall of the casing. A spring contact brush |`l exerts pressure on one end of the arm tending to 'move it toward the fixed contact II, and a stop |8 is provided in the casing to be engaged by the arm i2 to limit its movement away from the fixed contact li. In 'the food compartment i a spring pressed'plunger switch l9 is located and is movable in a casing 20 and adapted when in its in- Ward position to close the circuit between two contacts 2| and 22. The outer end of this plunger switch |9 is in the path of movement of the door 2 so that when the door is opened the spring pressed plunger switch will be moved 'forwardly to open the switch, and when the door is closed it will force the plunger switch inwardly to cause the same to engage the contacts 2| and 22 and close the circuit. I have illustrated diagrammaticaily in Fig. 2 an electric circuit which might be employed in connection with my improved apparatus. In this circuit 23 and 24 indicate lead-in wires from the ordinary city service. The wire 2! is connected to a pole 25 of the motor Ill and a wire 26 connects the other pole 21 of the motor 25 In the food compartment i a fixed electric p with the fixed contact I| The contact brush l'l is connected by a wire 23 with the contact 2| and the other contact 22 is connected to the lead Wire 23.

The operation of the mechanism above described is as follows: When the door 2 is opened the air from outside will of course rush into the food compartment and equalize the pressure within and without the same. When the door is open, therefore, it is desired that there will be no operation of the pump and this is prevented by reason of the factthat the piunger switch will spring outwardly and maintain open circuit as long as the 'door is open. Further, when the pressure in the compartment is raised the diaphragm |5 will return to a straight or normal position, as shown in Fig. 3, which movement causes the contact arm 2| to en'gage the fixed contact H. The circuit will not be closed until the door is closed as above explained. As soon as the door is closed and the circuit .to the motor Ill is closed, this motor will operate the pump 9 to draw air out of the refrigerator past the check valve 1, and when the pressure in the refrigerator is sufllciently lowered or, in other words, when the desired partial vacuum is reached, the

diapnragm Is W111 be drawn mwardiy to the position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, which will result in causing the contact arm |2 to move away from .the contact and open the circuit, thus stopping the motor until for some reason or other the pressure within` the refrigerator should again rise.

' As it is well known-that it would be diflicult to open the door of the refrigerator when a partial vacuum is in the food compartment, it is necessary or 4at least desirable to provide a means which will permit air to enter the compartment when the latching means of the door'is operated. This means is shown in detail in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawing. I have illustrated a latch box 29. secured to the outer face of the door and in which a-latch bar 30 is mounted to, turn and is adapted to engage a suitable keeper 3| on the casing. An Operating crank handle 32 is fixed to the latch bar 30 and carries within the box 29 a crank arm 33. The door 2 of the food compartment is provided with an opening 34 communicating with the interior of the latch box 29 and a valve 35 normally closes this opening. A small air duct 36 is provided in the door communicating with an opening 34 in the latch box. The

' valve 35 is preferably of the flexible disk type,

as shown, secured to the door at its upper portion by means of a pin or rivet 31. The central portion of this valve is preferably thicker than the rest of the valve and the thinner edge portion of the valve normally covers the air duct 36. The crank arm 33 may engage 'the central portion' of the valve and operate to assist in closing the same and holding the same in closed position. A chain or other fiexible connecting device 38 connects the lower edge portion of the valve 35 with the arm 33 so that when the handle 32 is moved outwardly and upwardly .to move the latch bar for engagement with the keeper 3|, the arm 33 operates to draw the flexible edge portion of valve 35 from over the air duct 36. Thus a certain amount of air will rush into the opening 34, facilitating the release of the valve 35 and the continued movement of the handle 32 will draw the valve 35 away from the opening 34 allowing additional air to rush into the food compartment to raise the pressure therein and to make it easy to open the door. When the door is closed the valve 35 will of course close the opening 34 and the duct 36 so that vthe pressure within the food compartment can be reduced as desired.

While I have illustrated and described what I believe to be the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that various slight changes may be made with regard to the form and arrangement of parts without departing from my invention, and hence I do not limit myself to the precise details set forth but consider myself at 'liberty to make such changes and alterations as fairly fall within vthe spirit and scope of the claim.

I claim:

The'combination with a refrigerator having a food compartment and a door thereto, a pump operatively connected to the compartment and adapted to maintain a partial vacuum thcrein, `said door having an air inlet opening, a valve normally closing said opening, a latch on the door operatively connected to vthe `Yvalve and adapted to open the valve 'when the latch is' 

